«A person that didn't sleep a wink is someone who got almost no sleep at all, and to catch 40 winks is to catch a very brief but refreshing nap. The number 40 has a wide range of citations in the Bible and may have some application to this expression».
«Forty used to be not only a precise number but also an indefinite term for a large number. There are frequent biblical references to 'forty days' that mean no more than 'for a long time', and because of this frequency the number 40 came to have an almost sacrosanct quality. It is probably this sense, jocularly applied, that lies behind 'forty winks', a wink itself being a short spell of sleep».
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«Forty used to be not only a precise number but also an indefinite term for a large number. There are frequent biblical references to 'forty days' that mean no more than 'for a long time', and because of this frequency the number 40 came to have an almost sacrosanct quality. It is probably this sense, jocularly applied, that lies behind 'forty winks', a wink itself being a short spell of sleep».
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